Time’s Ticking: Why India Must Deepen Diplomatic Ties Beyond Political Leaders

Strip out the words "cabinet", “bureaucracy” and “diplomatic framework", and this is an argument about the difference between a flash summer romance and a lifelong marriage. It is about the realisation that a handshake between two powerful people is a lousy basis for the future of a nation.

This is what that reality looks like on a human scale:

The Mirage of the Big Summit

Picture a posh room in Washington or London or Paris. Two charismatic world leaders smile for the cameras. They joke with each other, eat a fancy dinner, and sign a big treaty with a gold-plated pen. It feels like history, heavy and permanent.

But behind those flashing cameras a snare is hidden away. That whole agreement is dependent on the personal chemistry of two people.

And then a couple of years down the line an election comes around and one of those leaders loses, or gets voted out, or resigns. The next person who walks into that office may absolutely hate their predecessor’s legacy. They can tear up the agreement with a flick of the pen, leaving the other country with a worthless piece of paper. For the ordinary people who spent years negotiating the deal, it means their life’s work is wiped out overnight because a foreign politician lost an election.

The silent worker at the dull desk

This is why the case is made out for “bureaucracies” – the silent, unseen army of career civil servants who do the real day-to-day running of a country.

A politician is a tenant in a government building; a career diplomat or policy expert is the foundation of the house. They are not thrown out when the government changes. Year after year. They sit at their desks, file reports, and handle details.

When a country does its international business through these quiet institutional venues, agreements become embedded. If the career experts on either side are very well connected, it doesn’t matter if a dramatic new president or prime minister comes in. The machine keeps running because the people turning the gears are the same people. They pay homage to a blueprint that they have been working on for ten years.

Building upon Sand

Western politics is changing like the wind at the moment. Leaders change faster than they used to.

If a country relies only on persuading whoever happens to be sitting in the chair of prime minister or president this week, it is always building on sand. With every trade deal, every security pact, there’s that anxious invisible expiry date.

Enduring friendship between nations is not, of course, to be found in the theatre of a high-profile handshake. It is found in the dull, stable and predictable relations that are established between the institutions themselves. Until that change occurs, international promises will always be at risk, living and dying by the unpredictable timetable of the next election cycle.